Hello, my name is Latrelle Samuels. I am a third year undergraduate at The Georgia Institute of Technology where I study Mechanical Engineering. Previously before attending Georgia Tech, I attended Savannah State University where I was a SSU Scholars student from Fall 2010 to Spring 2013. I was born and raised in Augusta, Ga. I have three brothers and one sister. As of now I don't have any pets, but that is soon to change upon my arrival back to Georgia. Things I like to do for fun are three-dimensional modelling, playing with Lego's, and cooking. If you want to know more more about me or have any questions concerning my research for the summer, please don't hesitate to email me.

Research Project

Description

My research project will use the sensor technology of the Microsoft Kinect to detect humans and other objects. The long-term goal of this project it to integrate the sensor on iRobots Creates. These robots are already use for caravanning (an application designed by members of our lab for distributed group coordination amongst heterogeneous robots), and a more powerful set of sensors would allow the robots to follow humans and better detect objects in the path of the robots.

Project & Personal Goals

Using the Kinect will allow my fellow researchers to use it instead of the basic webcams to detect objects. Using the webcams doesn't really give the robot a sense of depth or direction when coming in contact with an obstacle or person. The robots currently use webcams to read diagrams for information. While this is good for a start, it is not always accurate. For instance, while the robot is in motion, a person can walk in its way: without a diagram attached to the person's leg, the robot will run into the persons leg. The Kinect will allow the robot to detect the person and stop to avoid a collision.

When I finish this project, I hope to have attained basic knowledge of C++ and motion planning. I have limited exposure to computer science and what it entails, so it will be fulfilling to know that I came here without experience in a subject to leave with an understanding of it, what it does, and how it is used in real life applications. Also, I want to have researched and learned how to use the Kinect to detect objects, humans, and possibly other humanoid robots. Learning to use Kinect's APIs will be very helpful to any profession. An API is a specification of how some software components should interact with each other.